_______________________________________________________________Blurb

With names like Dallas and Brooklyn they could’ve either been best friends… or worst enemies.

The war started in third grade, with a surprise punch to the face, and lasted until the summer after high school when Brooklyn and Dallas are stuck working at the same store. At night. Together. It should’ve been a recipe for disaster. But instead of outright combat, they slowly start to notice that not only do they not hate each other, but perhaps they have more in common than either of them knew.

Soon, amidst unexpected laughter and camaraderie, Dallas realizes that maybe the guy who used to be his number one enemy could actually be his perfect match.

This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group’s Hot Summer Days event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.______________________________________________________________________

My Review

Dallas and Brooklyn have been enemies from first sight. But the last summer of high school, they are stuck working at the same store. At night. Together.

They agree to have a truce, but soon they discover that they get along pretty well, and actually like each other.

He was messing with the dials on his stereo. Soon, the distinct guitar style of one of my favorite alternative bands was pouring through the speakers.“What? No Taylor Swift? Brooks and Dunn?” Brooklyn shuddered. “Naw, man, I’m not into that stuff. Besides, that Swift chick—she’s a Yankee.” I looked over at him. He was grinning. Oh my God. Brooklyn Thorn is teasing me… not torturing but honest to god teasing. I smiled back hesitantly. “Can’t trust us Yanks, can ya?” “Yeah, you’re all trouble.”

Soon, amidst unexpected laughter and camaraderie, Dallas realizes that maybe the guy who used to be his number one enemy could actually be his perfect match.

His smile was huge and engaging. I couldn’t help but catch my breath. The last thing I needed was to notice that the guy who’d been my nemesis and sparring partner for more than half of my life was, well, hot.

Bridges is a heartwarming story about first love, especially considering Dallas and Brooklyn’s common history. I loved how they cosmically, unavoidably ended up together again and again.

_______________________________________________________________Blurb

Ryan is assigned to Jamie Peterson for his class’s secret gift exchange. If word gets out that he has to make a handcrafted gift for flamboyant and openly gay Jamie, Ryan will be the laughing stock of the school. It’s a good thing no self-respecting boy would be caught dead in a craft store, because otherwise he’d be at risk of being spotted when his mom drags him to her weekly craft workshops. He hopes Jamie will appreciate all the trouble he’s going to for this assignment.

Finding the perfect gift is gonna be tricky. Jamie deserves something good, though, after all the crap he has to put up with at school. At least, Ryan tells himself that’s the reason he’s putting so much thought into the gift. It couldn’t be that he has feelings for Jamie, could it?______________________________________________________________________

My Review

Such a sweet holiday story!

Ryan is assigned to Jamie for his class’s secret gift exchange.

Ryan has to make three handcrafted gifts to him, but the difficulty is not only in making the gifts actually. If word gets out that he is the openly gay Jamie’s secret Santa, Ryan will be the laughing stock of the school.

“Maybe you should talk to Jamie,” Mom said. “Get some ideas for your gift exchange.”
“That would be social suicide.”
She gave me a stern look.
“Mom, he knits.”

Ryan is so closeted and so terrified of being bullied at the beginning of the story that I felt a little fast for him to become open about his sexuality in such a short period of time. But maybe it is the right time for him, and he also has a very supportive family, and it helps more than anything.

The story is adorable, the dialogues are witty and fun, and that first kiss is very sweet. Highly recommended!

“Do you like hot chocolate?” he said.
“Yeah.”
“Marshmallows?”
“Sure.” I laughed when I saw the bag he pulled out of the cupboard. “Rainbow marshmallows?”
He smiled. “They go better with the white hot chocolate. White on white is boring.”
“My sister would love you.”
“Your sister would love me? That isn’t really who I was aiming for, but okay.”

_______________________________________________________________

Blurb

found.Cole St. Clair has come to California for one reason: to get Isabel Culpeper back. She fled from his damaged, drained life, and damaged and drained it even more. He doesn’t just want her. He needs her.

lost.Isabel is trying to build herself a life in Los Angeles. It’s not really working. She can play the game as well as all the other fakes… but what’s the point? What is there to win?

sinner.Cole and Isabel share a past that never seemed to have a future. They have the power to save each other and the power to tear each other apart. The only thing for certain is that they cannot let go.______________________________________________________________________

My Review

This book was a huge disappointment. I loved Cole and Isabel’s blooming romance in Forever, and waited for this book so much.

Cole. He is still captivating: he has humor, improvement, can see the people and things around him. He is very sensitive to everything, and could morph everything into something phenomenal – even bad phenomenal, but still phenomenal. He is able to build something valuable even from shit.

Things come in my eyes and ears and through my pores, and my receptors begin to pulse restlessly and my neurons fire like cannons, and by the time everything gets into my brain and comes out the other side, it’s all transformed into a different species, pixels or channels, glossy or matt. I can’t change the way I’m made. I’m a performer, a singer, a werewolf, a sinner.

Isabel is poisonous. She squeezes all the happiness and joy out of everyone around her. She is always angry, always rude, bored and bitter. She hates everyone: her parents, her colleagues, everyone she knows and everyone she doesn’t even know.

“The place was already full of people. God, I hated them all.”

Lovely. Who wouldn’t want to be with this girl?

Both Isabel and Cole think in extremes. Isabel is immature, aggressive and hysterical, Cole is pseudo-suicidal. While there is development in Cole’s character, there is nothing in Isabel’s. Cole has a purpose: it is Isabel. He subordinates everything to this aim. His every thought is about Isabel. And Isabel, being absolutely self-obsessed, is blind to it.

I had told the truth, and it hadn’t mattered. In the end, she’d bought into the same story everyone else had. Did it matter if you’d changed if no one believed it?

The story. The reality show left me uninterested. The paranormal aspect of the story is inconsistent, makes no sense, and reduced to almost zero. As if it doesn’t even exist.

Romance. No development, no communication, no magic moments. After 60% of the story I just stopped caring about the characters. I didn’t even root for their happy ending. The happy ending is unexpected and unestablished. I still love Cole, and he’d deserve a much better story than this and a much better person than Isabel.

Secondary characters. The only truly respectable and likeable person in this story is Leon, the Cadillac driver. Oh, and Jeremy! And Sofia. Baby, and the others are only papier mache figures.

Sinner is sickeningly sad and depressive. I could write that it is not for me – well, actually it’s true – and that maybe you’d enjoy it – but that wouldn’t be true. So much fake angst, but no real drama. So read it at your own risk.

Two stars because Cole has some affectionate moments, and because of Leon, Jeremy and Sofia.